Showing papers by "Alexander Schmittel published in 2002"
TL;DR: The results provide for the first time evidence for spontaneous T-cell reactivity against defined antigens in AML patients and support the immunogenicity of WT1 and proteinase 3 in acute leukemia patients and the potential usefulness of these antIGens for leukemia vaccines.
258 citations
TL;DR: It is suggested that peptide vaccination resulted in a prolonged relapse‐free interval in these high‐risk patients.
Abstract: We report here on 2 patients who received adjuvant vaccination with an HLA-A2- or HLA-A24-restricted tyrosinase peptide, respectively, and GM-CSF for frequently relapsing stage IV melanoma. Following resection of metastases and irradiation of brain metastases in 1 patient, both patients were without evidence of disease when receiving the first vaccination. While the patients had had 9 and 12, respectively, mostly s.c., relapses during the 3 years before vaccination, they experienced freedom from relapse for more than 2 years after vaccination. We found a T-cell response to the vaccine peptide in both patients in the peripheral blood by ex vivo IFN-gamma ELISPOT assay. The T-cell population could be further characterized by 4-color flow cytometry in 1 patient, showing that the majority of the peptide-specific CD3(+)CD8(+)IFN-gamma(+) T cells were granzyme B-positive and CCR-7-negative, characterizing them as effector T cells with the ability to mediate cytotoxicity and migrate to inflamed tissues. In this patient also, augmentation of the T-cell response to autologous tumor cells by vaccination could be detected. A single-site postvaccination relapse occurred in both patients, showing downregulation of tyrosinase expression in 1 patient, while normal expression levels for tyrosinase, MHC class I antigens and components of the antigen-processing machinery were found in the other patient. These results suggest that peptide vaccination resulted in a prolonged relapse-free interval in these high-risk patients.
23 citations
TL;DR: In the last years median survival of selected patients with metastatic disease could be increased to 14 months by intrahepatic fotemustin infusions and immunotherapeutical modalities are entering clinical evaluation as treatment for metastatic uveal melanoma.
Abstract: Die Behandlungsmodalitat des primaren Aderhautmelanoms hat bisher keinen direkten Einfluss auf die Uberlebensprognose des Patienten. Durch die Identifizierung signifikanter Prognoseparameter bezuglich des Risikos, Metastasen eines Aderhautmelanoms zu entwickeln, werden neue Behandlungsstrategien erarbeitet mit dem Ziel, die Entstehung von Metastasen zu verhindern. Dabei spielt die Immuntherapie durch die Entwicklung geeigneter Impfstoffe gegen melanomspezifische Tumorantigene eine zunehmende Rolle. Beim bereits metastasierten Aderhautmelanom betrug bis dato die mittlere Uberlebenszeit ca. 5 Monate. In der letzten Zeit konnte durch die intrahepatische Infusion von Fotemustin die mittlere Uberlebenszeit auf 14 Monate bei selektierten Patienten verlangert werden. Neue Therapieprotokolle werden aufgrund von Chemosensitivitatsuntersuchungen aktuell erarbeitet. Des Weiteren werden immuntherapeutische Modalitaten auch in der Behandlung von Metastasen von Aderhautmelanomen untersucht.
8 citations